The Bell To Bell News Report 06.09.11

Welcome to the Bell to Bell folks, not a lot of time as I’m still spending most of my days entertaining, so we’ll jump right into things this week, but not before I offer up my congratulations to both True North Sports and Entertainment and the city of Winnipeg as the Drive to 13,000 ticket campaign in support of our new NHL team reached its goal within 17 minutes of the beginning of the sale to the general public last Saturday. Those without tickets joined a waiting list that reached nearly 16,000 names before TNSE pared it down to a more reasonable 8,000, showing just how hungry the market is for hockey at its highest level. I am incredibly excited for the NHL Draft on June 24th, which will be the first official event for the new team in Winnipeg and I am on pins and needles for the schedule to be released in July to find out when the first game takes place.

In this week’s column, I’ll be looking at the departures of two ECW originals from TNA, the ongoing feud between Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior, more matches being added to Ring of Honor’s Best in the World i-PPV event, a tragic incident in Japan and a whole lot more, so let’s kick this thing off…

You know the drill…

Ding Ding….

— Last week, there was a lot of speculation surrounding Tommy Dreamer as he was absent from the Impact tapings despite being involved in a major angle with Bully Ray and AJ Styles at the time. Beyond the obligatory jokes about Dreamer texting someone his address and all of that nonsense, when this thing went live last week no one really had any idea as to where Dreamer was or what was going on. This week, there’s a bit more light that has been shed on the situation as it appears that even though he went over AJ at the Sacrifice show as part of the aforementioned angle, Dreamer will be finished with the company after a house show loop of Illinois and Tennessee this weekend. For as much as I hope to give TNA the benefit of the doubt in situations like this, it just reeks of one hand not knowing what the other is doing and the general chaos that appears to be reigning supreme behind the curtain in Orlando.

When this whole thing began, they had to know that Dreamer’s contract was almost up and yet they still went ahead with making him a major part of a featured storyline on Impact and now they’re left scrambling to try to pull it together to close it out. I wish I could say that this came as a shock to me, but it isn’t as TNA has been burned over and over again by putting talent on TV without contracts or near the end of contracts and this is just the latest instance. I’ve said it over and over again, but TNA really needs to get their shit together because they can’t last forever doing business like this. Disorganization absolutely killed WCW in its last days and the disorganization in TNA is getting worse and worse as the months and years go by, which isn’t a good sign for the company having a prosperous future. As for Dreamer, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him back with the WWE as an agent at some point as people there were pretty high on his work backstage and he has consitently shown that he has a good mind for the business when he has had input in angles and finishes.

— Tommy Dreamer isn’t the only hardcore legend that will be leaving TNA as Mick Foley is also done with the company after asking for his release earlier in the week. Foley was one of TNA’s biggest boosters in his early days there and really seemed to believe in the product as a viable alternative to what has been happening with the WWE in the past few years. Unfortunately, reality checked Foley hard into the boards and nearly knocked him out as after months and months, the positive attitude seemed to fade and Foley seemed much more pessimistic about things in TNA. His big return on May 12th as the representative of the Network was a big deal, but only came after a lot of struggle including a rumored red-eye flight from Las Vegas to Orlando following the Cauliflower Alley Club’s yearly convention that Foley took to make a taping he was told he had to be at only to be told that there was nothing for him to do when he got there.

Both sides seemed to be heading towards a mutual parting of the ways, but Foley expidited the process a little bit when he posted a recent tweet that compared his empty arena Halftime Heat match against The Rock to the attendance at a recent TNA house show. Apparently, bosses don’t like it when you take to the internet and make fun of their product for your millions of followers. Foley also posted that he had pushed for changes to be made that he thought would benefit Impact Wrestling and that some people took that as him being hard to work with, which may have contributed to the problems between the two sides. With Foley still on fairly good terms with the WWE, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back there in some type of role in the near future as he seems to still have wrestling in his blood even with his disappointment in how things turned out in TNA. If I had my way, he’d be working with the Tough Enough kids as a promo teacher if they bring the show back for another season. As much as that show is about trying to teach newcomers how to wrestle, they need to know the promo side of things as well and there are few in the business that have been better than Foley when it comes to cutting compelling promos.

— The cause of death in the tragic loss of the legendary Randy “Macho Man” Savage has been revealed through the course of his autopsy with his brother, Lanny Poffo, stating that Savage died due to ventricular fibrulation. The condition causes abnormal heart arrhythmia which prevents the heart from pumping blood and is considered one of the leading causes of fainting and heart attacks. Savage passed away while behind the wheel of his SUV with his wife Lynn in the passenger seat and according to Poffo, some quick thinking from Lynn prevented this from being an even worse tragedy as Lynn grabbed the steering wheel when Savage passed out, swerving into a tree to avoid hitting a motorcyclist and possibly a bus. Speculation had been that Savage had had a heart attack while driving and it looks as though that speculation has been confirmed, which doesn’t make the situation any less sad, but at least provides some closure to Savage’s friends, family and fans.

— A bit of a weird story from this past Monday’s episode of Raw as a live report posted online following the show had The Miz suffering a possible broken leg during a post-show dark match against John Cena. For a scant few hours, there was plenty of chatter in IWC circles about what the WWE would do with Cena and even Alex Riley now that Miz was going to be on the shelf for an extended period of time. Luckily for The Miz and the WWE, the live report was a false start as this past week’s Raw show didn’t even have a post-show dark match let alone one that featured Miz taking on Cena. The Miz even took to Twitter to take a shot at the people posting the reports by suggesting that maybe people shouldn’t believe everything they read on the “smart” websites and in newsletters. While it’s easy enough to make a mistake in reporting, this whole story is indicative of the problem with media as a whole these days as social media explodes. In the past, writers usually needed multiple sources to confirm a story before they ran with it, but with everyone rushing to be the first to break information, reports can end up being posted with little to no verification and trace amounts of actual information. While there are varying degrees of accountability for the various levels of writing, there is still a need for readers and other writers to use discretion and common sense when it comes to stories so that situations like this don’t happen again.

— Last week, we discussed the Ring of Honor World Championship bout between Eddie Edwards and challenger Davey Richards that will main event the upcoming Best in the World 2011 i-PPV show on June 26th in New York City and this week, there are two more title matches that have been added to the show. ROH TV Champion Christopher Daniels will put his belt on the line against El Generico in a bout that should be a solid encounter, while the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships will be defended in a four-way bout. Current titleholders Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, will put their belts on the line against a formidable list of challengers as The Kings of Wrestling, The All Night Express and The Briscoes will all be attempting to knock off the champs. For as great as the main event match will likely be, this four-way tag title bout could be a real show-stealer if they’re able to not fall into the trap of most multi-tag matches that just devolve into chaos and confusion. If they are able to allow all four teams the chance to shine while not getting too bogged down with too many guys in the ring at once, the fans in the Big Apple could be in for something special.

— He may be already set to face John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania 28 next April, but Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is not just sitting idly by and waiting for his return to the ring as it has been reported that Johnson is in talks to play a major role in the upcoming G.I. Joe 2 movie that is expected to open in the summer of 2012. Johnson has had a big year in Hollywood, playing a role in the revitalization of the Fast and Furious franchise with his role in Fast Five and he is also in talks to appear in the rumored sixth film in the series, so even though the WWE may get him back for one night at WrestleMania, it looks as though the full-scale return that many had hoped for may be out of the question for good. For as much as I would selfishly love a full-time return from The Rock to turn the WWE on its ear and shake out the staleness, it’s nice to see Johnson experiencing the success that he is in Hollywood while avoiding being completely typecast.

— While the recent purchase of Strikeforce by the UFC led many to believe that Dave Batista’s dealings in MMA were over and that a return to the WWE could be imminent, it appears that that is not entirely the case. While preparing for a possible career in MMA with Strikeforce, Batista grew close to noted coach Cesar Gracie and his fight team based out of Stockton, CA and now he and Gracie have partnered up to open GracieFighter Jiu-Jitsu in Tampa, FL. At this time, the gym is only open to friends and fighters, but it is expected to be opening to the public soon, which means that Big Dave should be in for a considerable chunk of funds sometime in the near future with the explosion in popularity that MMA and jiu-jitsu are experiencing. If the gym is a success, it could keep Batista from needing to come back to the WWE as quickly as he might have otherwise, which means that all of those folks who had spent time fantasy booking Batista’s return for SummerSlam may have to tweak their plans just a little bit.

— Dragon Gate USA fans who ordered the company’s Second Anniversary i-PPV show last weekend and ended up having problems with the feed will not be left completely holding the bag as DGUSA head Gabe Sapolsky has announced that anyone who had problems with the show will get a refund or a video on demand replay of the event in an attempt to make amends for the problems that plagued the broadcast. As an additional bonus, the replay will come bundled with the ability to watch the Open the Southern Gate show from WrestleMania weekend in Atlanta. This is one of those situations where you have to applaud DGUSA for doing the right thing for the fans that support them with i-PPV buys while also pointing out the dangers of putting on shows of this nature. The i-PPV technology for streaming events of this nature is still very young and has a lot of growing pains left before it can become a fully reliable resource for companies like DGUSA, ROH, JCW and others. Unlike a taped program running on i-PPV, a live show presents a whole other list of things that can go wrong and if even one of them goes tits up, the whole thing can go up in flames. Wrestling appears to be spearheading the i-PPV movement and while that’s commendable as it allows fans the chance to see great shows at rock-bottom prices, it does mean that things like this happen on occasion. Props to DGUSA for handling the situation as best they could and here’s to hoping that things run smoother next time out.

— The on-again, off-again relationship between Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior is most definitely off-again. Warrior is set to release a nearly hour-long video entitled “Karma is coming to collect” in which Warrior promises a full-blown, uncensored shoot on Hulk Hogan that will “expose” Hogan for what he really is with various allegations including Hogan lying about reconnecting with Randy Savage and calling Hogan a “dopehead” that spends full days sitting around doing nothing but snorting cocaine.

Warrior even states that Hogan and his ex-wife Linda had an open marriage with Hogan pushing Warrior to bed the former Mrs. Hogan. Suffice it to say that it’s pretty seedy stuff from the Woyah and it looks as though it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s the preview that he has posted to whet the appetites of all the little Warriors out there in internet-land….

As you can imagine, Hogan is quite unhappy with Warrior’s little sneak preview and just before this column went live, TMZ reported that Hogan is threatening to sue Warrior over the video, stating that the entire thing is an outright lie and that Warrior is “out of his mind”. Usually when someone threatens to sue that quickly, it’s because there’s a shred of truth in there and looking at the sincerity and, quite shockingly, the lucidity in Warrior’s eyes as he speaks, it leads me to believe that while it might not all be true, there is probably more to this than just the ramblings of a crazy person. It will be quite interesting to see where things go once Warrior begins releasing his video as there’s probably going to be a few more juicy tidbits in those fifty-something minutes of Warrior going off. Stick with the Bell to Bell for more updates on this wild story as I’ve got the feeling this is only the beginning.

— Shocking and saddening news from Japan this past week as Voodoo Murders faction member and veteran All Japan Pro Wrestling star Nobukazu Hirai is in hospital after suffering a subdural hematoma following a match against Kenzo Sasuki on May 29th. Following the bout, Hirai was unable to get to his feet and needed to be helped backstage where he began to vomit and pass out. Hirai underwent emergency brain surgery and is said to have recovered enough to be taken off of his ventilator and is currently responding to friends and family even though he is still not fully conscious. Hirai had been involved in physical matches as of late and was even admitted to the hospital a week before the incident after being lacerated with a chair shot, but the real cause of the injury is believed to be a backstage attack from fellow Voodoo Murders member TARU.

TARU and Hirai allegedly had a beef between them with TARU suggesting that Hirai was lazy in the ring and possibly had a drinking problem. Ultimately, TARU attacked Hirai just hours before the show on May 29th, beating him while other Voodoo Murders members Minoru, MAZADA and KONO watched the attack take place. A referee ultimately stepped in to stop the beating, but it looks as though it may not have been soon enough to prevent the serious injury that landed Hirai in the hospital. TARU has been indefinitely suspended by AJPW due to the incident and the Voodoo Murders faction has been disbanded, but AJPW is still taking a beating in the media in Japan, which is not doing any favors for a wrestling industry that is already reeling from tragedies in and out of the business in Japan. Best wishes go out to Hirai for a full recovery and here’s to hoping that AJPW has gotten their backstage issues under control so that an incident of this nature does not happen again. Wrestling in Japan was nearly dealt its death blow two years ago with the in-ring death of Mitsuharu Misawa and if things don’t start turning around soon, puroresu in Japan may fall even further from grace.

— Finishing things up for the second straight week is Chyna’s “triumphant” return to the adult film business as she is allegedly looking to leave the wrestling business behind permanently to pursue a full-time career as a porn star. Speaking to TMZ, Chyna stated that she would like to do more movies and wants to get started right away and is currently in talks with Vivid Entertainment to work out a contract for more movies. Given how out of place she seemed in her return to TNA, it makes sense that Chyna would want to move away from wrestling, but what does it say about the company when someone would rather be in porn than work for TNA. That being said, I don’t think that she’s going to be a big success in the porn industry either as she’s getting further and further away from her biggest name recognition and the time that she looked the most attractive (well, attractive for Chyna). From the things that I’ve read about the first two movies she was in, she apparently wasn’t a very enthusiastic performer and given that the biggest porn stars are usually the ones that either look the prettiest or act the sluttiest, she’s got a tough hill to climb on both fronts. Look for more updates in the coming weeks on Chyna’s new career choice, no matter how horrifying they may be. If I have to suffer through it to report it, you’re going to have to suffer through it to read it.

That’s it for me for this week, everyone. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and check the column out and be sure to seek out all the rest of the great content here at 411 Wrestling every week including Wrestler of the Week, the Contentious Ten, News From Cook’s Corner, The Wrestling 5 & 1 and too many other great pieces to name. In the meantime and in between time, I’ll see you all back here next time for another brand-new edition of the Bell to Bell News Report!

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